Now that the hatchet had been buried with the Liverpool band, McCartney decided to pick up where he left off: the glorious second side of Abbey Road. The thing is, Kuti needn't have worried because McCartney had decided ‘to look back without anger’ and seek inspiration from his later work with the Beatles. That was not true however, and when McCartney played several demos to Kuti to reassure him, Kuti saw that there was no such appropriation and the two became friends, with Kuti inviting McCartney and his wife to one of his performances at the Shrine in Lagos, which McCartney still recalls with emotion. As if that wasn't enough, shortly after arriving Fela Kuti showed up at the studio in a fury, thinking that the white rock star was coming to do something that white music stars had been doing for a long time, culturally appropriating the music made by musicians of color, in this case his own, the irresistible 'afro-beat'. Even so, the McCartneys did visit them, were robbed at knifepoint and lost several written lyrics and demo tapes of their songs. To make matters worse, the studio was not in the best condition and there were neighborhoods that were better left unseen. When they arrived there they found a country that had just emerged from a civil war and was ruled by a military regime. McCartney had decided to go to record in an exotic location and had chosen Lagos, Nigeria, without giving it much thought. But shortly after McCullough left and Seiwell followed shortly after. With his ambition restored, McCartney began rehearsing the material with his band at the time, Wings, which consisted of his wife Linda on keyboards and backing vocals, Denny Laine on rhythm guitar, Henry McCullough on lead guitar and Denny Seiwell on drums. Needless to say, if it had been a science fiction film, stars and colored lightning would have emanated from McCartney's body at that moment, but, as it was not a movie, what started to come out were some of the best songs of his solo career, some like, above all, the title song, but also Jet, Let Me Roll It, Bluebird and 1985 – that were on a par with his Beatles’ classics. So he felt it was time to return to the big time and show everyone who Paul McCartney was, going so far as to tell his wife Linda " either I give up and cut my throat or I get my magic back". But that year everything began to change, as Lennon, Harrison and Ringo Starr sued Klein and McCartney saw this as a moral victory, after years of confronting his three best friends. Moreover, there was a feeling that the bassist was responsible for the Fab Four's split, as he was the one who announced it and was alone against his three former bandmates who had aligned themselves with Allen Klein.
On the other hand, in terms of sales, George Harrison was the most successful ex-Beatle, while John Lennon had earned critical respect thanks to his first two solo albums.
The critics had taken a pop at him, and while his first two albums did not deserve the scorn, the next two were not up to the standards of a songwriter of his stature. By 1973 Paul McCartney had released four studio albums and several singles after the Beatles split up but few had taken him very seriously.
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